


Soulmates Vs Love

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-07 07:24:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1890102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anonymous said:<br/>Can we get some Ryack with soulmate tattoos? :3<br/>Anonymous said:<br/>I kind of have a need for a Ryack that has a happy ending, so I turn to you my favorite writer. Thank you so much!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soulmates Vs Love

Ryan had never really put much faith in the whole soul mate thing. The idea that a tattoo on your body would tell you that a person was perfect for you without you ever have even met them never settled well with him. He didn’t want some ink telling him who he should or shouldn’t love. So when the name “Jack Shanon Pattillo” scrawled itself across his chest boldly on his 18th birthday, he ignored it. He stopped looking in mirrors until after his shirt was already on. He stopped wearing tank tops, and refused to go swimming. He asked out a pretty girl in his class and never showed her his chest.

She dumped him when she turned 18 and it wasn’t his name that wrapped around her arm.

Most of his relationships went the same sort of way. He stopped asking anyone out after his last boyfriend had taken him aside, screaming at him for lying. Ryan hadn’t lied, they’d just never talked about the whole soul mate idea. At age 27, Ryan had had more than enough of soul mates and wanted nothing more than to burn the name off his chest. He hated that everyone was romanced by them. He hated that they thought it meant happy ever after- it didn’t. He’d seen a straight man have his “soul mate” be a trans*man who he wouldn’t stop calling “she”. He’d seen a young girl have her soul mate be another girl who had bullied her their entire life. He’d seen a genderqueer liberalist be paired with a westboro church supporter. He’d even seen an aromantic asexual get a nymphomaniac soul mate.

Soul mates were a bunch of bullshit, and Ryan wanted nothing to do with them.

He met Jack while Geoff was interviewing him. It was short, it was sweet, and Jack had only popped in for a moment to tell Geoff something. Ryan didn’t think about his tattoo, he didn’t feel like everything was right when he met Jack, it just felt like any other person he’d met in his life. It wasn’t anything special, they didn’t drive off to be alone- hell he didn’t even know that Jack was the person who was scrawled across his chest. He didn’t treat Jack any differently than he did anyone else he got lucky enough to work with. 

Jack, however, always gave him this long stare like he was holding back something he wanted to say.

Of course it’d been at work when Jack saw it. Gavin had spilled an entire can of Red Bull on Ryan’s shirt- the man had no choice but to change. Jack had walked into the office just as Ryan had the new shirt over his head- his chest bared. He didn’t understand why someone was gasping so loudly, it was just his chest. When he pulled the shirt the rest of the way down he was face to face with a shocked looking Jack- who almost looked hurt. The conversation that followed was less than pleasant, and Geoff had told them to shut up or go home when everyone else returned.

Jack had the name “James Ryan Haywood” along his back like a tramp stamp.

It’d come a year earlier than it should have- staking it’s claim when he was only 17. At first he’d been excited by the idea of having a soul mate- his own parents had been soul mates and they loved each other dearly. Then a couple of years passed and he’d met so many people named James that the novelty of it wore down. Instead of being excited- he just took solace in the fact that the name was still there. Solace in knowing that somewhere out there was a man named James who was perfect for him and who- hopefully- he would be perfect for.

Jack never expected that his soul mate would actually be a man named Ryan.

A man named Ryan who apparently not only didn’t believe in soul mates- he had forgotten entirely what name was on his chest. It was a bit… disappointing? Underwhelming? His soul mate was someone who didn’t even want anything to do with the subject. Jack almost hated himself for dreaming that they’d meet and it’d be perfect. Maybe he was too romantically inclined. Maybe he wanted too much. So he tried to leave Ryan alone. If Ryan didn’t want a soul mate, he didn’t have to have one. Jack was only upset that it meant he didn’t get one either.

Two weeks after Jack found out, Ryan asked him out.

Ryan pulled him aside and said that he didn’t believe in soul mates- but he wouldn’t mind having one if it was Jack. That he’d like to try actually dating the bearded man, because he’d already grown to like him quite a bit. Jack had beamed and accepted without a second thought. Their first date had been more like friends hanging out but he didn’t care- it felt perfect. Their second date had been more private and intimate. The third had been full of accidentally funny situations. By the tenth date, Ryan was starting to think he could get behind the whole soul mate idea as long as he was with Jack. By the twentieth date, Ryan started wearing tank tops and would smile at the endearing way Jack’s eyes would trace along his name. By the time they both lost count, they’d gone swimming, moved in together, and even got a dog together.

Ryan would never completely believe that Jack was his soul mate- but he would always believe Jack was the man he loved and that would be enough for them both.


End file.
